About This Event

Experience profound beneficial changes in your body with four days dedicated to body rolling and pilates. Release pain and restrictions in your back, shoulders, neck, hips, legs, and feet for a total body awakening and feel-good rejuvenation.

Yamuna® Body Rolling is a workout, a massage, and an osteopathic adjustment rolled into one. YBR uses various sizes of specially designed balls to improve alignment, enhance bone quality, and create a stronger, longer, and leaner body. An empowering healing practice that is beneficial on its own or as a compliment to your other fitness routines. Combining the strength and toning effects of exercise with the releasing effects of massage, YBR makes space in your joints and tissue, helps to heal and prevent injury, and offsets the stress of vigorous exercise and repetitive movements. YBR creates immediate tone and lift of abdominal muscles along with energizing postural awareness and strength.

Pilates is a unique method of physical conditioning that unites body and mind. Through focused concentration, Pilates provides strengthening and stretching exercises, targets and tones muscles, improves posture, enhances flexibility and balance, and creates a more streamlined shape. The objective is to connect breath and flow to obtain superior core stabilization. Pilates accommodates all types of practitioners from beginners to extreme athletes in terms of both injury prevention and rehabilitation. Pilates promotes efficient use of the core, thereby maximizing execution of movement.

Together, these two modalities support you to access your core matter, let go of unproductive holding patterns, and activate your centre with precise intention. Develop powerful, effective body-wellness routines that are easy to incorporate into your home practice. Everybody is welcome regardless of age, experience, or injury.

Namchi’s classes have been a life line for me. She holds space for powerful physical work and her classes are consistently fun, informative, and rejuvenating. I have noticed lasting change in my body since I began working with her, specifically regarding chronic back pain that I have had for years. Thank you for helping my body get stronger Namchi! – Hayley Newell

Yamuna® Body Rolling Benefits:

Tone and elongate muscles

Improve alignment

Increase circulation

Better bone quality

Helps heal and prevent injury

Relax the nervous system

Improve core strength

Stimulate nerve roots

Stimulate organs

Increase metabolism

Expand the lungs and deepen breathing

Increase body awareness

It feels like a massage!

Pilates Benefits:

Longer, leaner muscles & flexibility

Mind-body workout

Develops a strong core – flat abdominals & strong back

Creates an evenly conditioned body

Improves sports performance

Prevents injuries

Promotes spinal longevity

After years of exercise and bodywork aimed at treating an old pelvic injury I found Namchi’s classes and quickly saw tremendous improvements. Her teaching style is both nurturing and clear. Her Yamuna Body Rolling classes keep me coming back time after time. I am so grateful to have found her! – Jeramie Peacock

Hollyhock definitely captured my heart. The food is wonderfully balanced and full of flavour. The garden is mesmerizing and the staff is always welcoming with a smile. Accommodation was comfortable and clean. There is something enchanting about this place that is calling me back ~ Monica G

Schedule

Venue Highlights

Hollyhock sits on the traditional territories of the Klahoose, Tla’amin, Homalco Nations. We are committed to renewing our relationships with the First Nations peoples on whose territories we are guests.

Since 1982 Hollyhock has built upon the history of this land as a place of gathering, a pioneering homestead, and the site of an important human potential education centre. On this foundation of gathering, pioneering and learning, Hollyhock’s founders dreamed of creating a lifelong learning and leadership curriculum to inspire, nourish and support people intent on service to a better world.

Hollyhock became a not-for-profit in 2006 to strengthen carrying out our mission into the future. With your help we can keep this as a thriving centre for skill-building, lifelong learning and stewardship of the natural world, inspiring, nourishing and supporting people making the world better for another 30+ years.

Accommodations

A variety of accommodations are located throughout our lush campus, ranging in price to suit most budgets. Choose from private, beachfront or ocean facing rooms, dorm-style lodging or cabins that nestle in the quiet seclusion of the forest. Our beautiful campsites are also available, with a cedar bath house conveniently located for your use.

Room fees include all Hollyhock basics, like stimulating presenter evenings, delicious, organic meals, morning yoga/meditation classes, guided naturalist walks and tours of the garden, as well as luxurious soaks in our ocean-view hot-tubs. Telephones and wireless Internet are centrally located.

Amenities

Free Wifi

Spa

Towels

Free Parking

Tour Assistance

Hot Tub

Coffee/Tea

Restaurant

Menu Types

Vegan

Vegetarian

Organic

Dairy Free

Menu/Cuisine

A feast for the senses! Renowned fresh, sumptuous food has made our Hollyhock kitchen famous. Our French-Intensive garden supplies vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers to each meal, gracing your table with food that is nourished with care every step of the way.

Our healthy, organic, vegetarian fare features ingredients from our abundant gardens located just outside our kitchen door, and well as local BC foods.

Meals at Hollyhock are globally-inspired and prepared with love and skill in our Hollyhock kitchen. Enjoy weekly wild seafood dinners and beach-side oyster appetizer barbecues. We serve organic grains and organic produce sourced locally, whenever possible. Organic herbs, flowers, greens, and vegetables are harvested daily from the Hollyhock garden. Our orchard produces many beautiful fruits featured on the dessert menu seasonally and served in our 24/7 fruit bowl, offering. Our meals are created and served “family style”.

About the
Venue and Teacher

Hollyhock is a not-for-profit dedicated to personal and professional development that advances consciousness, connection, and community toward solutions for a better future. An internationally renowned centre for learning and well-being, Hollyhock presents over 100 social learning programs and conferences on our Cortes Island campus and in Vancouver, BC. Our spectacular natural setting on Cortes Island is an ideal backdrop for transformative experience. Connect deeply to like-minded people, exceptional teachers, and the natural world. Our campus is also the perfect setting for dreamy island holidays.We gather revolutionary teachers and thinkers at the leading edge of human development, all intent on service to a better world, for an alchemical mix of higher learning. The Hollyhock curriculum includes subjects as diverse as wellness and wisdom practices, creativity, and leadership development. Learning here is authentic and powerful. The ripple effect far exceeds the physical boundaries of this special place. Visit us to expand your mind and gain tools to broaden your impact, appreciating the natural beauty of our West Coast island home.

Namchi Bazar developed her unique somatic approach to core wellness over 30 years as a Yamuna Body Rolling Practitioner, Pilates instructor, professional dancer and mother of three. She is compassionate, sincere and enthusiastic as she helps people feel their best in their body/mind. Namchi facilitates a deep sensing and understanding of ideal function. With this sensory approach she focuses on the core matter: strong and centred freedom of movement at full potential.
Namchi is a graduate of the Department of Contemporary Dance from Concordia University, a certified Pilates Instructor from the Structural Studies Institute in Montreal under the guidance of Rosemarie Geist, D.O., and is a certified practitioner of Yamuna Body Rolling. She has taught in Vancouver, Montreal, Charlottetown and abroad working with a variety of people from the elderly to elite athletes. Namchi’s past dance work includes performances for the Cirque du Soleil and Sayari Productions in India.
namchi.com
photo credit: Darshan Alexander

Thank you!

Why Retreat?

We asked people why they go on retreat, here's what they said:

Opening up to the joy and peace of meditation and Yoga. <3
Marion

Retreat Guru's Vision

We believe human beings are innately wise, strong and kind. This wisdom, although not always experienced, is always present. Going on retreat is a beautiful way to reconnect to our basic sanity and health. Our aspiration at Retreat Guru is to inspire people to experience authentic retreats and reconnect with their innate wisdom, strength and kindness.